


Last-Second Stories

by raven_aorla



Series: Time Out of Mind [21]
Category: 18th & 19th Century CE RPF, 18th Century CE RPF, Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ficlet Collection, Mental Illness, Multi, The nature of this AU means there will always be emotional hurt/comfort, prompt fills, psych ward au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-07-23 18:26:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7475148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raven_aorla/pseuds/raven_aorla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the home for ficlets based on prompts from readers of this AU, partly as a thank you and partly for fun.</p><p>**The "T" rating is on average. Tastefully worded NSFW prompts permitted; fills of such will be very obviously labeled and easy to skip.**</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Alexander and Ned as teenagers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For enigmairi, with affection.
> 
> Tags:  
> \- Fluff  
> \- Meet Cute  
> \- broTP  
> \- References to sexism and slut-shaming  
> \- Allusion to food insecurity  
> \- Inspired by real events
> 
> The tense shifts are deliberate.

Stop worrying about it, John. If we can’t finish what I brought, I’m sure Missy will enjoy eating it when she gets home from work. You’re terrible at feeding yourself when you’re depressed. Worse than Xander, which I never thought I'd say to anyone.

Has he ever told you how we met? Have I? You might like it. Wanna move to the couch?

We didn't go to the same high school by _total_ happenstance. It was a magnet high school, had to test in and submit evidence of specifically academic forms of intelligence. By the second week of ninth grade I was the most content I'd ever been when it came to my classes and classmates. Everyone seemed passionate, I wasn't bored, nobody had bullied me, and I'd signed up for Model UN and was actually appreciated for my abilities. 

The downside, of course, was the number of frenetic overachievers who make you exhausted just looking at them. Assuming they're the smartest in the room, giving presentations that feel like they're six hours long, writing like tomorrow won't arrive - you know where I'm going with this.

Plus everyone kept asking if we were related. Some of them subsequently cringed and asked if that was a racist question. I told them I could see why they might wonder, but as far as I knew, no. If nothing else, people in my family are capable of shutting up for five minutes at a stretch.

I was a little bit of an asshole when I was thirteen. My only excuse is that a lot of people are. 

The first time we spoke directly to each other, he acted like we were resuming a conversation rather than him pulling up a chair in the cafeteria right across from me and plopping his lunchbox on the table. "We need to do something about the dress code."

Sometimes I wonder if he'd have done that if I hadn't been sitting alone that day. I'd deliberately done that because I got my hands on a new Discworld book and wanted to read as much as I could before the next period. "I've heard about you, Alexander Hamilton," I said, closing the book but keeping my finger in as a bookmark. I also took a bite of my sandwich, because unlike certain people I can _effectively_ multitask during meals.

"I'm in, like, three of your classes, Ned. But we need to do something about the dress code."

I knew what he was talking about. Today was the second time that a girl had been humiliated and made to change into gym shorts because her skirt was supposedly not long enough. As if that's less "distracting" than a few extra centimeters of leg on view. "I don't disagree, but why are you telling me this? Also did you already finish your lunch or something?"

He looks at his lunchbox like it sneaked up on him. He starts eating and talking at the same time, though with a hand in front of his mouth to block the view. He says a lot, but the important thing is that he thought of a bunch of different ways to protest but can't think of one that doesn't end with him at the extremes of not getting attention or ending up in detention. I don't remember what they were anymore, but I agreed.

"Do you know the exact wording of the rule?" I ask.

He had copied it down. Verbatim. Of course. I tell him to show me and take a moment and chew slowly enough not to choke. I read the exact wording of the rule twice.

I say to him, "It doesn't say how long a boy's skirt needs to be."

"You're a genius," he says immediately. "Civil disobedience. The Washingtons can't possibly disapprove."

"Who?"

"Never mind that. I need to get my hands on a skirt."

He was so enthusiastic about the idea that I couldn't help but join in. When his eyes go large and I can see the words he keeps erasing as well as producing in his mind, I have to let him know. "Promise me you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."

He holds out his hand to shake. "Never. I never blab other people's secrets, only my own."

It feels odd to shake, but I do it anyway. "I have four skirts, including two miniskirts. It's not a sexy thing or an identity thing for me. There are times when I feel like wearing a skirt, that's all. One of the miniskirts would probably fit you." In ninth grade, Xander was roughly the size I would have been if I hadn't had enough nutrition for a significant portion of childhood. I didn't know that at the time. I said, "If it's too big, we can use a safety pin."

"Aw man, you're the best. At my other schools I wished for a war between me and the establishment. The only way to rise up. But it's better if I can have a friend with me."

His question is subtext, but might as well be written out on a flashing neon sign, you know? I say, "We should make t-shirts or stickers for us to make it clear we're protesting double standards or whatever. Want to come over to my house, see what I have, and strategize?"

It was just the two us that first day, then it was four, and the day after there was more of us. After the drama, the rule was changed to "clothing should extend to at least mid-thigh" without mention of clothing type or gender. It wasn't everything we wanted, but we rose up, and that was something. Also I haven't gotten rid of the guy since. I mostly don't regret that.

Even more now that, you know, he put me in your path.

Yes, I still have a few. I wear them at home when I feel like it.

_[This is your home too, Ned.]_

I love you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- The real events I mentioned at the beginning was an actual high school protest I read about on tumblr, though unfortunately I no longer have access to the post.
> 
> \- In the musical, when Hamilton sings, "As a kid in the Caribbean, I wished for a war, I knew that I was poor, I knew it was the only way to rise up..." he is paraphrasing a letter that historical teenage Hamilton wrote to his childhood friend/foster brother/possibly half-brother Ned Stevens.
> 
> \- I happen to know about a magnet high school that's in the general area of reasonable-commute-to-the-real-Mount-Vernon. It's named after Thomas Jefferson. 
> 
> \- I am a cis woman and more-or-less femme most days (I don't like wearing makeup or nail polish, but pretty dresses and jewelry yes please). Sometimes I really really really really want to wear a necktie and modified Italian-cut suit and, like, spats. Or a Regency-era English gentleman's suit with tails and frills. Or torn-up jeans and flannel and boots and be greasy and muddy and talk with a toothpick clenched between my teeth.
> 
> Like everyone, I contain multitudes, and I hope to do my part to carve out space where a usually conventionally masculine person can have the flipped version in safety. Without, of course, diminishing validation of trans people, NB people, all the butch and femme aesthetics, drag queens, drag kings, etc.


	2. More on BPD Burr

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 50 non-chronological sentences about Aaron Burr's experiences living with Borderline Personality Disorder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For rainbow_scarab, with friendship. The prompt also requested misdiagnosis, coping mechanisms, and choosing not to take medication for some reason. 
> 
> Again, I have Bipolar II, not Borderline Personality, and I have done my best to be accurate and sensitive but don't pretend to be an expert. 
> 
> Warnings:  
> \- self-harm and suicidal ideation mentions  
> \- eating disorder and toxic body image mentions  
> \- non-graphic thoughts of harming others  
> \- memories of religiously motivated emotional abuse  
> \- reference to a panic attack  
> \- troubled relationships of various kinds
> 
> But this is the Time Out of Mind series, which means it's about support, growth, and hope.

1\. Aaron knows that the same symptoms are often diagnosed as BPD in women but PTSD in men, and he wants those wasted years of of sexist assumptions back, Doctor Montgomery.

(wait for it)

2\. His televangelist grandfather never hits him, but the various attempts to "call out the devil" aren’t ideal for a young orphan's self-esteem.

(wait for it)

3\. In second grade, he writes a composition about how great it must be to get elected to a job, because you can look at the votes and know those people aren't lying about liking you.

(wait for it)

4\. Martha Laurens arrives early for her shift one day, and says, “Theodosia - well, she didn’t give details, but if you need to talk to another eating disorder survivor, you can.”

(wait for it)

5\. he needs to look good with his shirt off he needs to have the most stylish clothes he needs to be witty and handsome and clever so maybe they will stay maybe he will believe they will stay

(wait for it)

6\. When he hears “Borderline Personality Disorder”, his first thought is _shit, that’s one of the most stigmatized ones_ , but his second thought is, _my devil has a name now, thank you, thank you…_

(wait for it)

7\. “If your hair stresses you out that much,” Angelica says over platonic coffee, “I bet you’re the kind of guy who looks distinguished bald.”

(wait for it)

8\. He’s a brilliant student, the pride of Princeton College, and he glows with having an objective measure of worth to define him.

(wait for it)

9\. When he sees Jefferson and Hamilton go at it, he understands why Doctor Greene wanted to eliminate one of the Bipolar variants first. 

(wait for it)

10\. He wants their daughter to have her mother’s name so she’s as much like her mother as she can be blessed, with few to none of her father’s challenges. 

(wait for it)

11\. Sometimes he’s worried he’ll drive Theodosia away, but she always points out that she left her previous marriage for him, which is hard to argue with.

(wait for it)

12\. Until Theodosia, dear Theodosia, he’s reliable with the ladies, and just as reliable for panicking and dumping them.

(wait for it)

13\. Grandpa doesn’t take kindly to food being wasted, so on cruel-brain days Aaron learns to hide his portion and feed it to stray animals later.

(wait for it)

14\. “It’s your fault I didn’t get the promotion, I know it is, I know you hate me, I know I would be doing better if you respected me!”

(wait for it)

15\. “You don’t have to smile around me, but you can if it helps you get through the shift,” Eliza says mildly one day, and Aaron lets his face relax.

(wait for it)

16\. Vernon-recommended personality-disorder-and-PTSD specialist Tench Tilghman walks him through how to voice an opinion and how to survive a disagreement, and it’s like a persistent loud noise resolving into music.

(wait for it)

17\. Life would be easier if he could do it all in bold strokes, but the law firm turns out not to be interested in his strategies for taking over a rival one.

(wait for it)

 

18\. Tench is the only person Aaron has told about the time he set himself on fire during a routine round of self-harm by matchstick. 

(wait for it)

19\. Theodosia writes him a letter every day regardless of whether she spends it in his company or not - short ones, but signed with love - and he keeps them safe and easily accessible.

(wait for it)

20\. It’s while inpatient that Aaron discovers he’s a great listener, to the point where the other guys set up an informal timeshare of crying on his shoulder.

(wait for it)

21\. He’s less scared of making mistakes now, and will brave any number of them for little Theo.

(wait for it)

22\. “My esophagus has wear and tear it shouldn’t have, but I keep living anyway,” Martha Laurens tells him over platonic lunch, taking a deep breath and picking up her fork.

(wait for it)

23\. “Yes, you’ve got a husband’s stationed in Georgia, but that’s all the way in Central Europe and _I’m_ by your side.”

(wait for it)

24\. He’s ironically talented at mediating disputes between friends while being prone to flying in a wounded rage at those very same friends.

(wait for it)

25\. Focusing on social justice issues helps.

(wait for it)

26\. After he comes out to his Men’s First Floor Ward coworkers, all that happens is the occasional reassurance or check-in to his well-being, and Tench smiles and says, “See?”

(wait for it)

27\. The career switch is one of the best decisions Aaron ever makes.

(wait for it)

28\. Not long into their marriage, Theodosia nearly dies, and it’s little Theo’s existence that keeps him from making drastic worst-case-scenario plans.

(wait for it)

29\. “Don’t you dare try to break up with me when you clearly don’t want to, Mister Burr, especially when my ex-husband didn’t have a tenth of the love in him that you do.”

(wait for it)

30\. Aaron tells Theodosia about his love children from when she wasn’t a part of his life, and he shows her the receipts from paying above and beyond the requirements of child support and the treasured photos of times he’s been able to visit, because he’s a fuckup when it comes to romance but he will never abandon a child, never. 

(wait for it)

31\. There are no medications for BPD itself, but Doctor Greene has him try Lamictal for the anxiety and bursts of aggression, which does nothing but dry out Aaron’s mouth until he physically can’t eat toast.

(wait for it)

32\. He spends years worrying that one day he’s going to suddenly hate and hurt one of his friends, maybe even kill them.

(wait for it)

33\. Therapy starts helping enough that Aaron decides to quit experimenting with meds.

(wait for it)

34\. Theodosia’s illness doesn’t make him cry, but her recovery sends him into loud sobbing.

(wait for it)

35\. He is the one thing in life he can control, not other’s reactions to him, not what happens to people he loves, only how he deals with what comes.

(wait for it)

36\. Little Theo smiles.

(wait for it)

37\. It changes the game and raises the stakes when Eliza brings Alexander as her date to the staff barbecue, but in this more relaxed environment Alexander is pleasant company.

(wait for it)

38\. “You know you’re in a high suicide risk bracket, and I need you to commit to fighting it,” Tench says early on.

(wait for it)

39\. he’s so warm under the covers with this woman he barely knows this time he doesn’t want to escape this time he hopes more than fears she’s so brilliant is he allowed to be by her side can maybe he  
stay

(wait for it)

40\. When his parents die, they leave no instructions.

(wait for it)

41\. As an adult, he considers going into politics, but the thought of losing an election is a ball of rage and sorrow.

(wait for it)

42\. Aaron tells Alexander at that barbecue, and Alexander passes him the mustard and says, “Kudos for doing so well these days, acronym-buddy.”

(wait for it)

43\. Little Theo slips from his sight while splashing around at a trendy infant swim class that Theodosia wants to test out, and he nearly passes out from panic before he spots her.

 

(wait for it)

44\. He makes up songs sometimes about his life and his friends, just as a way to occupy his brain when too much is going on.

(wait for it)

45\. “I just think it’s funny that you’re the one who hands out meds when I’m the one who actually takes them,” Hercules says during their morning overlap, and Aaron’s smile is amused and genuine.

(wait for it)

46\. He has made a list of movies and tv shows to watch on a bad evening, and does tai chi, and Peggy gave him an adult coloring book on the sly when he let slip that he loved those while inpatient, and he snipped off a scrap of his daughter’s softest blankie and keeps it in his pocket to rub if he needs to.

(wait for it)

47\. Cato - yes, Cato, not Phyllis, Aaron snooped - has taken to leaving bits of Coleman Barks translations of Rumi poems in Aaron’s break room locker, things like “There’s a kind of breathing that’s a shame and suffocation, and there is another way of expiring, a love breath, that lets you open infinitely.” 

(wait for it)

48\. Aaron goes to his parents’ graves as often as he can.

(wait for it)

49\. “Maybe in a radically different set of circumstances you’d hurt someone, but not the you I’ve come to know,” Tench reassures him.

(wait for it)

50\. With all these reasons he just might thrive when so many have died, it’s only a matter of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Lot of references in here, but the one I've never seen in a fic is that Burr had two kids with his (paid) servant Mary Emmons, and acknowledged them, provided for them, and made sure they got well-educated regardless of being POC. (Are you taking notes, Jefferson?) John Pierre Burr became an active member of Philadelphia's Underground Railroad, was an agent for an abolitionist newspaper, and other such achievements. Louisa Charlotte Burr married an educational reformer/abolitionist, and her son, Francis Webb, wrote the second African-American novel to ever be published, _The Garies and Their Friends_. I want to read all about the badass POC Burr descendants! 
> 
> Post-Hamildeath he also adopted two French boys and brought them back from his time hiding out in Europe, one of whom was rumored to be biologically his. Aaron Burr was a disaster in many ways, but it looks like he was a responsible and loving father.
> 
> * My Aaron's early life is entirely made up, and is inspired by some lines from "Wait for It" and my need for Aaron to be initially diagnosed with PTSD.
> 
> * I hope it's clear that in this series people have different relationships with religion, and that I'm portraying nothing being wrong with religion in and of itself. It contributed to John and Martian's internalized homophobia and being ostracized from their families, but Cato's negotiating an ongoing healthy balance between his faith and orientation. We know it's a small but positive part of life for Phyllis, Israel, the Washingtons, and the Lafayettes. And it shapes and strengthens Sam. Insert sinners and saints line variation.


	3. Revisit with George King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samuel Seabury and George King III have an instant-messaging conversation regarding George's past motives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For schrodingers_zombie, who requested an update on George King III. This turned out to be emotional hurt/comfort of the cathartic sense. Not fluffy, but hopeful for both of them. 
> 
> This also continues my one-woman crusade to write Samuel Seabury as a BAMF woobie.
> 
> The whole thing involves discussion of the thing George did that got him kicked out. There is also:
> 
> \- Past suicide attempts  
> \- Gore mention  
> \- Fear of forced institutionalization  
> \- Implied creepiness  
> \- Patient-on-patient bullying and violence  
> \- Consensual but potentially unnerving level of sedation  
> \- Self-loathing and fear of abandonment
> 
> I'm sorry if anything George types is too hard to parse. I am happy to provide correctly typed translations.

Soon after returning to the U.S., after a few weeks of spiritual reflection and counsel in Edinburgh, Samuel Seabury received a substantial check and a business card in the mail. He used the money to tide him over until he found steady work. He put the business card in a drawer.

Just over a year later, he finally made use of the email address stenciled on the heavy cardstock. He had a request to make.

Charlotte King's response came eleven hours later. It was a 657-word, extremely polite no.

His reply was: "I understand your protectiveness, but have you asked him?"

***

RevSam:  
Thank you for agreeing to this.

georgeiii:  
thank u for not instising on vid

RevSam:  
Whatever makes you feel able to have the conversation. 

georgeiii:  
My spelling is bettr before thehe pink e]hexagons

RevSam:  
Pills?

georgeiii:  
yes, i have to take them at dinner, and this is after dinner, will sppell better in the morning

RevSam:  
I can read what you’re writing, and that’s what matters.

georgeiii:  
brill

RevSam:  
To prove that it’s you, please tell me I asked you when I was unpacking my suitcase in the room we shared.

georgeiii:  
have you seen any dissidents being discaplined? And I said I had to sit in tsoft rmo for 1hr 1 time but itwas boring not painful

RevSam:  
Thank you. Are you alone?

georgeiii:  
yes, tho door’s cracked open so Charlotte can hear. she worries. good you asked when i’m home. just got back last week, but pink hexagns are ace, can be home if they keep working

RevSam:  
All power to those hexagons.

georgeiii:  
heh. she said you preach to jailbirds now?

RevSam:  
If they want preaching. I sit with them and listen to them if that’s what they need.

georgeiii:  
aw, your sweet

RevSam:  
I’d prefer if you didn’t call me that.

georgeiii:  
right, uh

RevSam:  
oigrgifhivfshriurtiueotiu

georgeiii:  
???????!!!??!

georgeiii:  
Did you have a stroke?

georgeiii:  
Answer!

RevSam:  
That’s was one of my cats, sorry. Thayne likes stepping on my keyboard to get attention.

georgeiii:  
oh!

RevSam:  
Jasper is willing to sit in my lap like a civilized feline.

georgeiii:  
My duaghter Emily taght me how to make a cat but i forgot where to put the whiskers ^0.0^

RevSam:  
I don’t want to waste your time.

georgeiii:  
i waste my own time constantly, don’t worry too much

RevSam:  
It’s clear Charlotte loves you.

georgeiii:  
despite everything

RevSam:  
I didn’t say that.

georgeiii:  
i did

RevSam:  
It’s clear you love her, but it’s less clear how you show it. That you’re showing it. I started piecing it together. You didn’t target Jay just for fun, like all of us thought. You verbally attacked him when you found out his wife was the one who saved him.

RevSam:  
I was the only person there, other than the staff, who ever saw your bare forearms. I didn’t say anything, out of politeness. Was it Charlotte who saved you after you slit your wrists? Do you feel guilty for putting her in that position? Do you hate men who put their wives in that position?

georgeiii:  
you must think i’m a psycho

RevSam:  
I think you’re a very ill man who has done bad, hurtful things, but I don’t think you do them without reason. Some of your reasons have roots in honest pain and sincere love that you act upon in a twisted way. Remember who I talk to for a living. 

georgeiii:  
no that’s an order You MUST think I’m a psycho.

RevSam:  
You’ll never heal if you keep hiding behind that.

georgeiii:  
this isn’t somhnin uy heal form

RevSam:  
I don’t mean be cured. I mean live with your condition with grace. You spat in James’ mashed potatoes after he said he loved his stepson but sometimes he wished he didn’t have to live in the same house with him. It’s a struggle for you to ever get to see your children, isn’t it?

georgeiii:  
if I din’t owe you, I would dixconnet the feck now

RevSam:  
You owe me.

georgeiii:  
stop being right it hurts

RevSam:  
This is the part that made me need to get in touch with you. My memory of what you did to me was solid enough for testifying in court against Howe and Cornwallis, but it’s not clear enough for me. Be honest and I will leave you alone if you want me to, call your debt to me paid. 

georgeiii:  
go

RevSam:  
When you made the first cut and I sobbed into the pillow, you said, “Shh, it’ll be over soon.” I know that. But did I make up you whispering something else after?

RevSam:  
Please, George, I need to know. I want you to be a human being to the part of my brain my fear lives in. I need to know if I’m not imagining what you said, and I’m not constructing a whole elaborate paranoid theory out of nonexistent shreds when that is my primary. Psychiatric. Symptom.

RevSam:  
Did you say, “Now I’ll be safe”?

georgeiii:  
you were my favorite

RevSam:  
…

georgeiii:  
You werent just on my side, you were by my side and oyu were 

georgeiii:  
when I got the metal I didnot know yet where was gonna do it, how to convince

georgeiii:  
i love my wife more thanznythng inthis life I will choose hr happiness over minde every time. put what we had aside, lose wifre, kids go too, and lose the person who saved me and keeps saving me, keeps thecrmopany

georgeiii:  
*company an my bro from jst locking me up, i owe her ever every everthing, i’m helpless im drowning in em

georgeiii:  
i don’tdeserve her forgivness. i thought if i did the kind of thring i knew shes forgive, even if more severe, it woud be better

RevSam:  
There is something she wouldn’t forgive you for?

georgeiii:  
mybe she would of but it would have been a wholnother level 

georgeiii:  
I’m sorry, Sam, it wasn’t your fault. 

georgeiii:  
not your fault punished ofr being good and pure and beautiful. you were rigt there all day all night, i missed her but my body was...i had to make you ugly. i had to make them separate us 

RevSam:  
OHH

georgeiii:  
king’s a psycho but he LOVES his WIFE has never cheated never would never.you had to be broken and ugly and you had to go away

georgeiii:  
did my best not to damage you longterm

georgeiii:  
i wanted otcut your sweet little face too but i’m not that much of a demon.

georgeiii:  
ojgaierhdo; rwho;ghrw0jn

georgeiii:  
That was me mashing the keys.

RevSam:  
I appreciate the reassurance. Truthfully, I had an entirely different interpretation of the situation.

georgeiii:  
doesthis smhow make it beter???

RevSam:  
I still itch sometimes. Probably psychosomatic.

georgeiii:  
im sry

RevSam:  
You’re not a demon. The demons live inside us. You realize that there were a number of other, much better solutions to being upset about having lustful feelings towards me, I hope. 

georgeiii:  
every night i lie awake thinking about them

georgeiii:  
well every night there arent pink hexagons blue ovals wite cricles etc, but i dream

RevSam:  
Also, were you assuming I would enable you? Or were you afraid of a temptation even worse than adultery?

georgeiii:  
that amendment americans cite in movies lots, please

RevSam:  
I’ll let that one go. 

georgeiii:  
thank y

RevSam:  
As for being “better”, I like to know the why of things. My faith helps me let go of the times that I can’t, but it’s nice when faith doesn’t have to do all the work.

georgeiii:  
thats something i suppose

RevSam:  
I forgive you.

georgeiii:  
oh

RevSam:  
Do with that what you will.

georgeiii:  
oh ok

RevSam:  
Show Charlotte you love her by searching for healing. Not just taking medications. I mean, my meds help me a lot, but I have to meet them halfway.

georgeiii:  
eloqent

RevSam:  
Don’t let your best quality lead to anything other than your best deeds. Maybe tell your therapist about this conversation?

georgeiii:  
maybe

georgeiii:  
do you have a clue what happens now

RevSam:  
We don’t have to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thayne Jasperson is the ensemble member who usually plays Seabury, though he's also Anthony Ramos' understudy, and he's a total cutie pie. 
> 
> This request is from a comment left on Holiday Seasons ages ago, but I've decided that all requests/prompts in any comments on any fic in this AU are fair game. ^_^


	4. More James/Dolley/Thomas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't a formal request, but in "Let's Try Again Tonight', there's a vignette with this OT3, and coffeecrowns expressed interest in seeing more. I was inspired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You've been such an amazing cheerleader since you joined us, coffeecrowns, and I wanted to make something just for you. This is a word-year, 365 words.
> 
> This arrangement of theirs began at some point after Sharps Hour.

James' wife is the reason anything gets done. 

This is true in general, of course. Dolley's a practical, levelheaded, patient woman, who sees both the wood and the trees when James is caught between either the examining the bark or managing the biome. She's the one who finds out Thomas won't be seeing his daughter this weekend because Patsy's maternal grandparents insist on having their share of her time. She's the one who suggests to Payne's biological paternal grandparents that this might be a nice weekend for them to have him around.

On another level, Dolley is the strip on the matchbox you need to start the flame. Dolley is the link in the circuit. Dolley is the enzyme that catalyzes the something something, not everyone's a polymath like you, Thomas Insufferable Genius Idiot Jefferson. 

Thomas gets here before Dolley's back from dropping Payne off. James says hi, cringes, and asks Thomas to pick his inhaler up from the floor where it fell, and where to get the liquid soap and water to mix and soak it in for a predetermined number of minutes. He prays he doesn't have an asthma attack between now and when it has dried for the correct number of additional minutes.

Thomas does it all, like he's done before, tells stories and jokes like this is normal. He washes his hands and reaches for James, who allows a hug. "You're such a big guy and such a tiny guy at the same time," he muses. 

James feels taut when he should be relaxed. There's no reason to be shy. Dolley's coached Thomas on fellating James, for God's sake. Yet still, James is thinking about the floor, ticking of the clock, blinking of microwave lights, sweat on the bridge of his nose, mysterious crick in his neck. What it'd be like to hear music when you enter a room. 

Dolley is here, she's here, and Thomas kisses her hand and she pulls him down and kisses his lips because that's how you strike the match. "Fair's fair, Thomas."

Contrary to popular speculation, James isn't afraid of French kissing. He's just afraid of missing links. 

Thomas kisses very smooth, a little raw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remember reading that Dolley Madison started the 'Hail to the Chief' tradition so people would notice her tiny tiny husband when he showed up at official functions. Obviously Okrierete Onaodowan is not tiny tiny, but he manages to act like he feels small during Act 2, don't you think? It's amazing.


	5. Hypothetical Character Scenarios

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few list-style headcanons for this AU.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nobody actually requested this, but when commenting on "Let's Try Again Tonight", Megan mentioned really enjoying fics in which a bunch of characters react to the same situation, which turned into what you see below. My kitten just died and I am really goddamn sad and need to do something constructive, even only a bitty bitty constructive thing, if I can't bring myself to do my real work.
> 
> Here's to you, Megan. This strays a lot from what you wrote about, but you were still the inspiration.
> 
> Here's to keeping on living anyway.
> 
> There's a mild Three Days Already spoiler that isn't really surprising if you know history, or if you've read "Triggering Incidents".

GIVEN INFINITE FUNDING...

Alexander: visit Jim. Have Jim visit.

Ada: gadgets

Eliza: funding charities to help children and young adults with mental health problems

Cato: vacation in Mali

Lafayette: nothing changes

 

IF THEY COULD BE HONEST WITH NO CONSEQUENCES...

Sam: "I wish I could take ballet classes."

George Washington: "Taking you in was one of the best things that ever happened to me, Alexander."

Chev: "Pierre, I'm a secret agent. I'm not joking."

Martha Manning: "I hate Jane's scones."

Jane Austen: "I don't particularly enjoy making scones."

Pierre: "I find Thomas Jefferson attractive. He's like if Lafayette were kind of a dick, but in, like a charming way? Sort of?"

 

PARTIAL HOGWARTS HOUSE ROSTER (this AU version of the person only, and only 5 I'm sure about each):

Gryffindors: John, Lafayette, Martha Manning, Sacagawea, Missy

Ravenclaws: Pierre, Lewis, Franklin, Phyllis, Ada!!!!!!

Hufflepuffs: Eliza, Molly, John Church, Sam, George King (it's about what you *value*, and only really makes sense if you've read the fic a few chapters earlier)

Slytherins: Chev, Friedrich, Reinette, Henry Laurens, Thom Pinckney (bonus: The Pothole)

 

 

LESSER-KNOWN TALENT

Alexander: really good at getting toys out of claw machines

Maria: can do a phenomenal Ella Fitzgerald impression while singing

Martha Washington: great at sewing homemade costumes

Sacagawea: encyclopedic knowledge of pro lacrosse

Eliza: skateboarding tricks

 

 

 

 

Authors who should try to sleep now:

raven_aorla

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the facts above is true of Lin-Manuel Miranda.
> 
> One of the jokes above is really silly and requires having read Departure Days.


End file.
